


Say It in a Friendly Way

by prompt_fills



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Career, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Humor, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-20 06:26:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8239291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prompt_fills/pseuds/prompt_fills
Summary: David started teaching Spanish at the elementary school. It was… eventful.The kids were ungrateful little brats because he apparently couldn’t measure with their previous teacher, the legendary Mr. Silva.David would have totally given that guy’s neck a nice twist and squeeze but then he got to meet the guy and it turned out he wasn’t all that bad. Actually, Silva was adorably shy and charming and really good with the kids and—Um. Yeah.   Eventful.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [myblueworld](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myblueworld/gifts).



…

The door to the classroom opened quietly and in front of him, David could see the usual mayhem the breaks between the classes brought.

Oh dear God, what if he won’t be able to get them to shut up? What if they don’t listen to him and continue fighting? What if someone gets hurt? The parents would sue the school. His life would be ruined. Ruined!

David squared his shoulders and let the door fall shut behind him with a loud _clunk_.

He strode through the warzone to stand near the blackboard. As he threaded forward, deliberately slowly, the kids stopped doing their everyday mischief to see what was going on.

“Quiet!” he barked as he reached his own desk. His hands shook slightly so he leaned over the desk, arms outstretched. He introduced himself to the kids and added, “this will only work if you’re willing to work with me.”

A young boy sitting at the back was slouching in his seat, chewing on a bubble gum and wearing a smirk on his face that told David he won’t cooperate. Well, better start off strict and then ease it up _if_ the kids are being good.

“Where are your books?” David snapped, pointing a finger at the boy. “And what’s your name?”

The boy blew up a bubble that popped noisily in the hushed classroom. He didn’t answer.

Everyone laughed.

“I asked you a question,” David fumed, panicking inside. If the conflict escalated, he would have to take the boy to the headmistress and how it would look if David had to resort to that on his first day here? He cursed himself for initiating the confrontation. He should have just go on with the class and pay the boy no mind. At the end of the class, he could have said that he would mark everyone’s efforts in today’s lesson and fail the boy. Nice and easy.

Damn it.

The boy popped another bubble.

“Spit out the gum and answer me. There will be no chewing in my classes. And this is for everyone – no food and no drinks. I’m fairly certain that you’re old enough to survive one teaching lesson without starving to death.”

Somewhere from the class came a hurried rustle of a paper bag, followed by a soft _click_ of a plastic lunchbox being closed and – hopefully – put away.

“Now,” David said to the boy at the back, “spit the gum _out_ and answer me. I don’t have time for this imprudence. Are we clear?”

A tentative hand in the third row was raised up.

“Yes?” David turned to the girl and she cast her eyes down to her lap when met with his glare.

“Mr. Villa, sir–”

“It is professor Villa,” David interrupted her.

“Professor Villa,” she started again. “May I have a question?”

“Yes.”

“May… may I say it in English?”

“Oh. Yes.” David didn’t realize he’d been speaking Spanish to them the whole time. But that was what he was here to do anyway, to teach them the language.

“I don’t think Stephen understands you, he only transferred here last week and he took French before but we don’t have anyone to teach us French so he was assigned to our classes. And you speak too fast anyway. And what does _imprudence_ mean? It wasn’t in the voc list.”

David turned to the blackboard to hide the expression on his face. He picked up a chalk and wrote the word down. “It means we only have so many minutes in this class when I can actually teach you something useful and I won’t be wasting them on your silliness.”

The girl nodded, eyes still down on her lap. “I’m sorry, Mr. Vill– professor Villa.”

“She’s not silly!”

“Yeah, and Mr. Silva always insisted we ask right away if we don’t understand something!”

“Yeah, because if we don’t ask, we can’t understand!”

“If you don’t understand, you don’t learn anything!”

“And then it snowballs and gets even worse and then we’re failing the class and no one ever failed Mr. Silva’s classes!”

“Yeah, his lessons were awesome.”

“ _He_ was awesome.”

“He _is_ awesome.”

“And he never called us stupid!”

The chalk fell from David’s fingers. “I– I haven’t called anyone stupid!”

“You did! You called Maria stupid. We all heard it, right?”

“Hell yeah!”

“Yeah, we did! You just called her stupid and that’s a big no-no!”

The class erupted with loud exclamations, all spoken at the same time, until David could no longer distinguish the voices. Everyone wanted to add their comment.

“QUIET!” David roared, losing his temper. To his surprise, the outburst managed to effectively silence the class.

The girl, Maria, was shaking slightly in her seat. Fuck.

“Everyone grab a piece of paper,” David said icily. “We’re going to write a test. I’ll tell you ten sentences which you will translate so that I can see what you’ve already covered with your previous teacher.”

There was a collective groan and everyone – aside from Stephen – set to follow his instructions.

He turned to the blackboard to brainstorm several sentences with delicate phrases in English to see how they’d cope in Spanish.

The couple of minutes they were writing gave him some time to compose himself. He glanced at his notes that he had dutifully prepared for the lesson – the plan went out of the window, obviously. Also, he _almost_ forgotten to take the attendance. Christ.

“Are you all done? Maria, why don’t you collect the papers from everyone for me?”

Maria stood up and started gathering the papers into a neat pile, not making an eye contact with anyone. Well, at least she won’t become another troublemaker.

David took the papers from her and put them into his folder. “Good. I’ll have these marked for you for the next lesson.” There goes his quiet evening with watching the match live on TV, god damn it.

“Now, I’ll read the list of your names and you’ll say ‘present’ and then add a few sentences about yourself. Say where you are from, what your hobbies are, if you have any pets and so on. I’m sure you know the drill. I want to hear you speak. One by one, let’s start with–” David peered into the list, “–Adi.”

A lanky boy near the windows stood up, sneered at David, took a little bow to his classmates and then he launched into what could only be called a detailed narrative of his life. In a perfect Spanish, no less.

David could have stabbed him with his red marker. It was a testimony to his will that he didn’t.

…

The ring of a bell couldn’t have come fast enough. David assigned them an essay for the next week – it was met with loud protests – and then he was out of the room like a man possessed.

In a daze, he made it to the staff room where he collapsed into his chair and seriously contemplated his life choices. Was it too late to go after his dream of becoming an astronaut? No kids were allowed in space, right? What a blissful idea! No kids. Ever. Why did he ever thought he liked kids? Kids were evil.

“So, how did you first lesson go?” Someone grabbed the back of his chair and swivelled him around.

“Peachy,” David grumbled and glared at James’ smiling face.

“Oh, why so sour? Everyone has a rocky start but it gets better, I promise. In a few years, you won’t be able to remember the first lecture you ever gave.”

David doubted that. “Easy for you to say, it’s all _fun and games_ for you, James.”

“Hey, hey, I want you to know that ever since I started teaching P.E. here, the kids in the school’s representation teams started winning every sports competition you can think of. Well, football aside, but we’d be winning football matches too, if only they let me coach them. So, Edin’s football failures do not count but everything else is a game – see what I did there? Basketball, rowing, swimming–”

“… beerpong?”

James smacked his shoulder, “You’re an awful, awful person and I don’t know why I put up with you. Actually, how does anyone put up with you?”

David didn’t know either. “Well, I do pay my share of the rent. But it must be my winning smile,” David offered and put on a huge grin.

“Ugh. That’s scary. Stop that, you look like a big bad wolf.”

David bared his teeth a little more and added a low growl for a good measure.

“Creepy,” James noted. “Come on, let’s go for lunch. Have you tried the school canteen? No? Good, don’t let Geri talk you into eating there. He actually likes the food because he’s a pig. Us normal people have to eat out.”

“Thanks, I’ll watch out for Geri.”

James kicked the leg of David’s chair. “Stop looking like someone offered you a cocker spaniel meatloaf. Were the kids really that awful?”

“The worst,” David nodded grimly. “Listen, do you know who taught them last year?”

“A-ha!” James whooped, leaning against David’s desk and shoving aside a pile of essays to make room for his ass. “That was fast.”

“What?” David’s face fell but James was grinning like a cat who ate the cream. “No! It’s not like that, you idiot.”

“Yes, it is! Did the kids gush to you how amazing and kind and handsome he is? Fair and loveable? I’d bet you fell for his teaching methods already, am I right or am I right? Silva’s kids are always the best class of the whole school, no matter which grade he teaches. That’s why they gave you his kids, actually. To ease you into it.”

“Really?”

“I knew it!” James pointed a finger at David. “You’re exactly the type to fall for someone you haven’t even seen yet.”

“That’s not–” David spluttered.

“But fear not, my friend,” James barrelled on, “I shall help thee!”

“Really, I’m not–”

James peeked over his shoulder and bellowed, “David!”

David winced.

“Yeah, that’s going to be a pain, I think we’ll stick to Silva,” James told David in a normal tone, then proceeded to yell, “get your ass over here! You need to come say hi to our new favourite teacher!”

A muffled voice called, “Okay!”

“There’s no way anyone’s ever going to be as popular as Silva is,” James explained to David patiently. “The little buggers would trust him with their lunch.”

“I see,” David said, and it was true. From one of the desks further into the staff room, a lean figure approached. The guy noticed that both James and David were staring at him and he nervously tugged his shirt down.

“Hi,” the guy said. His cheeks were slightly pink and the blush progressed when he extended a hand towards David and realized his fingers were smeared with blue colour. “I’m David,” the guy said, withdrawing his hand and leaving David, who didn’t notice the colour until now, hanging awkwardly with his hand extended.

“Ugh, he’s David, too,” James said. “From now on, you’re Silva, capiche? You were helping them paint the sky again, Silva?”

The guy didn’t get to react, because the door to the teacher’s room burst open and several younger boys came running in. “Mr. Silva! Mr. Silva!”

Alarmed, Silva turned to them. “What is it?”

“Mr. Silva,” one of the boys gasped, “come quick! They’re murdering Mr. Edin on the field outside!”

…

By the time David got over his shock, Silva was already sprinting onto the field, followed by a heard of kids.

James tugged at David’s arm. “Get up, we need to help him.”

“Christ, of course.”

Silva was already returning back with the kids to school before him and James managed to find the scuffle.

“What happened?” James asked, bewildered.

“Ah, nothing,” Silva said. “It looked worse than it was. Edin’s fine, got surprised by a football flying to his face.”

“Don’t we need to call the ambulance? Or the cops?” David asked in concern.

“Nah, it’s fine. The two guys just needed to clear up some things.”

James didn’t seem inclined to believe Silva. “You sure they’re fine?”

“Positive,” Silva said sharply.

“C’mon, James,” David grabbed James by his elbow, “if he says it’s fine, then it’s fine.”

The warm smile Silva gave him made David’s stomach clench.

“I don’t know why I chose to live with you,” James grumbled.

“You love me,” David deadpanned, the argument long worn and familiar.

“Must be it,” James agreed, making a sickening kissing face at him.

David turned to Silva to ask him some inane question only to find his face oddly blank.

James either didn’t catch the expression or he was used to the odd behaviour from his colleague, so he asked, “Hey, Silva, want to join the two us for lunch?”

“No, thanks,” Silva said. Even his voice sounded funny. “I’m going to keep an eye on the boys and then I’m teaching.”

“Sucks,” James said, “some other time.”

“Sure,” Silva said and he made it sound like a dismissal.

David made a mental note to ask James about David’s odd behaviour later. “See you later,” he said to Silva’s retreating backs.

Silva raised his hand in acknowledgement and he was gone.

“I was right, wasn’t I,” James said, pensive. “About your crush on Silva.”

David gulped, eyes firmly on the ground. “Yeah.”

“That sucks, man.”

“Yeah,” David said again.

…

A few days after the incident on the pitch, David came to the office to find James in a bad mood. He was taking it out on third year’s tests, his red marker busy with deducting points.

“You okay?” David said, setting his bag on his desk.

“Yup.”

“Something happened?”

“Yup,” James retorted.

“Something bad, I guess?”

“You guess right.” James finished making a long strike over some poor student’s answer, then he put a big D atop of the test and circled it twice. “Jo received flowers from some douchebag today. He had them delivered to her, together with a note and a box of chocolate.”

“Ouch,” David said, clucking his tongue. “Do we know who it is?”

“No.”

David walked over to James and leaned down to give his shoulder a supportive squeeze. “Once we get home we’ll put on some film and drink beer until you pass out.”

“Marathonning Fast and Furious does sound nice,” James admitted.

“What would you do without me,” David said with a smile, pulling the hood of James’ tracksuit over his hair.

James made a wounded sound, his hand immediately going to pull the hood off and check his spiked hair for any damage.

The door to the office opened and Silva walked out, balancing a pile of books as usual. He gave the two of them a weird look but did not comment.

David still didn’t get the chance to ask James about that odd behaviour of his and now was hardly the time.

“And I didn’t see who dropped it off but I saw her parading about, looking for a vase. It was awful, everyone was staring. It was all white and green and there were little green hearts. Shit girls like, you know? It was awful,” James told David with a pout.

David gave him a poke. “Shut up, Jesus, does everyone here talk as much as you do?”

“Excuse you!” James puffed out his chest. “I talk, Silva babbles.”

“Especially when he’s nervous,” David grinned. “Which is, like, always.”

James scratched the underside of his jaw, a small spot where he had nicked himself while shaving earlier that day. “I wouldn’t say always, man, it’s just around you that he gets all skittish. He’s got you wrapped around his finger, doesn’t he. He didn’t even have to say a word.”

“Shut up, James.”

“Now that I think about it, you’re acting pretty strange around him as well. All nervous and clueless.”

“James,” David growled, dangerously close to a whine. He was saved from further embarrassment by a tentative knock on the door.

“Come in!” James shouted, rolling his eyes.

“Professor Villa?” One girl from David’s classes tentatively took a step over the threshold to their office. Her name was Tami or Hami, he could never remember. “Would you have a minute? It’s about the essay you assigned us yesterday.”

“Sure,” David said, glad to get away from James’ scrutiny.

…

On his way back from the evening classes, David run into Jo Hart, who was crossing between the buildings, a thick green desks in her hand.

“Hi, Ms. Hart,” David greeted politely.

“Hello,” she returned automatically. She took two steps and then she turned around. “Oh, wait, would you have a moment?”

“Yes?”

“I wanted to talk to you. And please, call me Jo. When you say Ms. Hart I feel old.”

“Alright, Jo. What is it you needed? It’s nothing bad, I hope?” David attempted to joke.

Jo cleared her throat. “The pupils were complaining about you, David.”

David hated that she called him by his first name. “They… were?”

“I’m afraid so,” she nodded. At least she didn’t seem to be happy to tell him that.

“When did you…?”

Arching her brow, she said, “I’m just coming back from our rehearsal.” She tapped her green desk. “I’ve got a couple of kids from your class.”

“I see.” David gulped.

“I know you’re very new to our school, David, and it’s hard for you to adapt but that’s why they’ve given you this class. They’re really easygoing kids, David taught – Silva, that is,” she laughed shortly and David made a grimace he thought was a smile. “David taught them last year and they never had any problems.”

“Maybe they liked him too much,” David grumbled. “I can hardly compare.”

Jo adjusted the hold on her green desk, “Perhaps you should ask him to give you a few pointers.”

“Thanks for the tip. I’ll think about it,” David said in a clipped tone. “I’m sorry but I… have to run.”

“Of course, David. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” David repeated and beat a hasty retreat.

…

“I saw you talking to Jo,” James fired off the moment David stepped into the hallway.

The two of them were the only two in this section of the school. It was getting late and the school was deserted. David’s steps echoed loudly as he approached James.

“Yes?”

James’ eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What did you two talk about?”

David shrugged. “Stuff.” 

“What kind of stuff?”

David eyed his friend dubiously. “The secret kind.”

“Oh, come one, dude! Not fair!”

“Look, James, why don’t you just ask her out?”

“Who?” James was suddenly very busy with picking the right key to lock the classroom.

“Jo,” David explained. “You haven’t been exactly subtle.”

James muttered something incomprehensible.

“What was that?”

James looked up, opened his mouth but then paused again, a slow, mischievous smile stretching his lips. “I said,” he drawled. “I’ll do it if you do it.”

David’s stared at him incredulously. “Why would I want to ask Jo out?”

In a blink, James exchanged his smile for a scowl that could rival David’s. “Not Jo, you idiot. You don’t _want_ to ask her out, do you?”

“No,” David confirmed.

“Good, because I meant _Silva_. And here he comes so you’ve got your chance.”

“What?” David swivelled around, not having noticed David coming to them. “Oh, hi David, he said. “Finally shook the kids off?”

Silva made a grimace in return. “Actually, they came to me to talk about you.”

“What did they say?” David asked, although he knew already.

“Okay,” Silva said, fidgeting, “they came to complain about your… uh… teaching methods.”

“What?!” James gaped but David wasn’t all that much surprised.

“They made it seem like you don’t even like kids.” Silva laughed but it was obviously forced.

“Are you kidding me?” James said, sliding one arm around David’s shoulders. “This guy loves kids! Look at him, he’s like papa Wolf and they’re his little pups, am I right or am I right?”

“Uh. Okay?”

David smacked James’ hand away. “You’re not helping,” he grumbled.

“No, wait,” James yelped. “You can’t just storm in here, accusing him like that.”

David said, “It’s fine, really. Jo already told me they’re making noise.”

“So _that’s_ what you two talked about,” James replied, sounding relieved.

“Yes, she was just returning from a rehearsal with some of the kids I teach and they were complaining.”

Silva smiled, the traitor. “Oh right. She’s doing the one with the elves and the flue, right?”

“Yup,” James confirmed, suddenly in much better spirits.

“How do you know these things?” David shook his head.

“James is their set designer,” Silva said. “Didn’t you know that?”

James shrugged. “It hasn’t come up.”

“Right,” Silva drawled, looking between the two of them. “Anyway. I’m done for today. I’ll just grab my stuff and go home. See you tomorrow!”

“See you.”

“Bye.”

James watched him go, then he said. “Okay, I see your point. He can be weird.”

“Shut up, James. I never said he was weird.”

“Just that he was being weird?”

“Yes. There’s a difference!”

“Aww.”

David tossed the nearest pen at him.

…

David drew in a breath to steel himself. He knew Silva was alone in the office. He knocked on the door a few times in a rapid succession.

“Come in!” Silva’s friendly voice called out.

David barged in before he could lose his nerves. “Hi.”

“Oh, hi,” Silva looked up at him from his table. He was nibbling on a red pen and there were some handouts in front of him.

“Are you busy? I can come some other time.”

“No, it’s fine. What did you need?”

David swallowed his pride. “Actually, would you have some tips for managing the kids? They’ve been complaining about me left and right.”

Silva blinked a few times. “I… I don’t know, really? There is no secret. Just… be fair to them. Stick to the rules you set. Also… well. Er.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you take part in any of the afterschool activities? I mean, I want to do photography this term and Jo leads the drama club and we need someone to get the music club started for real – James offered, actually, but have you ever heard his drunken wailing? Yeah, that’s not happening. So, I mean. You could maybe make yourself more approachable? To them, I mean!”

“Uh.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean it like you’re a bad teacher or anything. But you asked and I’m trying to brainstorm here a little, so, uh. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“Okay. Look, we have a meeting on Wednesday afternoon, at half past three, in the gym. We’re going to take votes about which activities we’ll be running. You could come to take a look, you know? It might help if they see you in a different context than just grilling them for marks.”

“I was in fact thinking about starting a book club, you know? I have many books in Spanish they could borrow if they want it.”

“Like, if someone does well and wants more good marks?” Silva said dubiously.

“Uh, no? Like, anyone could come and borrow something to read.”

“Ah. Sure, like a library section, right?”

“Yes.”

Silva scratched his chin. “Hm. That could work.”

David was determined to _make it work_.

…

The next lesson he had with the class of traitors, he came in earlier. He set up the data projector and while he waited for the film to load, he sat on the edge of the first desk.

“Hi everyone,” he greeted them. “You still have a break, no worries.”

Two girls who looked identical were braiding each other’s hair. Their hairstyles, unfortunately, were identical, too. David was actually kinda glad he got both of them in the same class or he would be afraid only one of them would attend his lessons, cutting the amount of subjects they had to learn to half, and he would never know any better.

“Don’t stop on my account, we have about seven minutes before we get started.”

The girls exchanged a dubious look, then they put their heads together, the one who already had her updo done bending over to whisper something in her twin’s ear. Both girls giggled, then resumed what they were doing.

“I’ve heard from Ms. Hart that some of you joined the drama club this year,” he started off, attempting a friendly tone.

“Yeah,” the boy nearest to him answered warily.

“That’s cool,” David enthused. “Brings the teachers and you together, right?”

The girl getting her hair braided said, “Uh. Yeah. We’ve got some cool teachers working with us.”

The other girl was holding four strands of her twin’s hair up in one hand. When she raised another four with her other hand, her twin held up her hand without prompting or turning back and took a hold of the strands. It was a fascinating process. Slightly creepy, though. “Like Mily, from P.E.,” the girl filled in.

David frowned. He hadn’t met any Millicent who taught sports. He’d have to ask James about it. “You guys are pretty active, from what I’ve heard about you.”

He got a few non-committal ‘hmms’ in reply.

“I used to be in a drama club too, when I was young. I want you to watch the twenty something years old me make an ass of himself on the screen. It’s about ten minutes of torture. And then I want you to write a review about what you’ve witnessed. Say, 120 words about how much I sucked back then, that would do. Seriously guys, this is your unique chance to be true critics. I won’t hold it against you.”

Encouraged by a few chuckles, he added, “It was the reason the principal cut the funds for the drama club. It was the last play we ever put on. So really, imagine you’re the principal and your students come up with something like this and you need to respond with all the reasons why the play is awful.”

No one said his lessons couldn’t be fun.

…

David moved most of his Spanish books to the school, set up opening hours and proceeded to be disappointed when only a few kids showed up in the past few weeks.

He was putting a bigger sign on the door – _APRENDER A APRENDER_ – when the twins came to him.

“Hello, professor Villa.”

“Hi,” David returned, holding up the sign with his elbow and trying not to drop the drawing pins.

“Dian is launching a school radio, the show’s going to be called On Flames.”

“Isn’t he already in the dramatic club?” David asked distractedly.

“In the discussion club,” Imatu corrected him. “But yeah.”

“And we’re writing about it in the school newspaper, and we’d like to get your statement on that,” Tuaim filled in. “So, what’s your opinion?”

Both of the girls raised their notepads.

“I… why don’t you two go ask Mr. Silva. I’m sure he’ll–”

“Oh, no worries, we’ve already asked him. He said we could ask you as well, you know? For the diversity.” The girls shared a look after that and giggled.

“Well, if Mr. Silva sent you my way, then ask away.” 

The girls giggled again.

Ah, right. They had already asked him the question. Darn, what was it again? Something about Flames? Was that a club for young chemists?

“I think it’s a great idea,” David started, desperately trying to come up with something that wouldn’t make him sound completely idiotic.

…

“Did you sic your minions on me today, Silva?”

“I didn’t,” Silva replied, baffled.

“The twins have been following me around, thinking they’re being sneaky. It’s like they’re expecting to catch me doing something strange.” He wasn’t going to mention the little misunderstanding about On Flames.

Silva blushed. “Don’t mind them.”

“They’re being really nosy.”

“Sorry about that.”

“So you said something to them!”

“No, they’re just trying to be… supportive, I guess.”

David narrowed his eyes. “Ah. I see.”

“Anyway, I need to get going.. I’m late for the music club and they won’t get anywhere without me. Ha, ha. Er.”

“You can sing?” David asked dubiously and then he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep in the groan. Did he really had to use that scornful tone?

“Well,” Silva admits with a nervous chuckle, “I just play the popular songs and the kids sing on their own, really. Adi has a good singing voice.”

“He has an ear for the melody,” David nodded, recalling how natural Adi’s Spanish sounded.

“Imatu and Tuaim are also great,” Silva said. “The way their voices combine when they sing the leads is quite angelic. You couldn’t tell them apart, they’re basically identical.”

“You could totally pull together some Spanish carolling for this Christmas,” David smiled. “For extra credit, of course.”

“That’s… that’s actually a great idea,” Silva enthused.

David preened under the praise. “Maybe you could sing something live for the school radio,” he continued. “Like a preview for the Christmas concert.”

Silva’s eyes shone. “Wow, that’s really brilliant. You have awesome ideas, we could use to have someone like you join us, with fresh attitude and new ideas. You could–”

“No.”

“Oh. Sorry. I just thought–”

“I don’t sing,” David lied.

…

James was ashen in the face. David didn’t recall ever seeing him so nervous.

“Here she comes,” he told James when he heard Jo’s heels clicking on the staircase. “Good luck, man.” He patted James’ shoulder, finishing with a firm shove.

James stumbled forward and David quickly stepped back into the office and closed the door behind him.

“What was that about?”

David swivelled around. “Oh, hi! Didn’t know you’re here.”

“Was just grabbing some books,” Silva pointedly nodded his chin down to where he was cradling about a dozen of books to his chest. All of them were in Spanish. “I let the kids borrow them to improve. If they decide to write a review, I give them extra credit, if they don’t, no biggie.”

“That’s smart,” David acknowledged begrudgingly. Why didn’t he think to introduce a similar system to his classes? It would make more people come to his small school library with Spanish books.

“Thanks. Uh, could you just step aside? You’re blocking the door.” Silva moved to sidestep him but since David didn’t budge, the pile of books in his hands started to topple over. David quickly grabbed the top three books to keep them from falling on the ground.

“Sorry,” David said, quieting his voice. “Could you just wait for a few minutes?”

“What’s going on?”

“James is finally asking Jo out,” David said.

“What?!”

“Hush, she must be there any minute. He’s waiting for her outside. Quiet now, maybe we’ll overhear something.”

Silva disposed of his books on the nearest table, then plucked the remaining three from David’s hands.

“What do you mean James is asking her out?!”

Silva sounded positively scandalized and he was doing a shitty job at keeping his voice down. David grabbed his elbow and tugged him further into the room so they no longer stood close to the door. James would tell him later at home how it went, no sense of sabotaging his chances now.

“I mean exactly what I say, he’s going to ask her out. And she’s going to say yes, I’m pretty sure.”

“Of course she’s going to say yes, she’s been making eyes at him since forever!”

David allowed himself a small smile. He had been positive he was not seeing things, otherwise he wouldn’t have kept encouraging James all the time, but it was nice to have it confirmed by someone else.

“I don’t get what are you so happy about. Don’t you – oh my god, you do. You agreed to that? You let him ask her out, like, knowing she’d say yes? Are you actually letting him cheat on you?!”

David’s expression turned horrified. “What?!”

“Fuck,” Silva said, eyes boggling out. “Of course not, it’s not cheating, you wouldn’t be the type to accept or do it. Is this like, he knows her longer, he’s going to break the offer to her?”

David kept staring.

“I’m not judging!” Silva squeaked hurriedly. “Threesomes are cool, I’m sure. I wouldn’t know, but yeah, whatever.”

David watched, fascinated, as Silva’s face turned crimson.

“It’s good you’re obviously talking about it, consent is like, yeah, I mean. Sure. Ugh. I’m going to go now and–”

David yanked him back. “You’re not leaving until James is back. You’re not ruining this for him. Now, what the actual fuck. Explain.”

Silva shook himself free. “Explain what?”

“Me and James?” David prompted.

“Yeah?”

David impatiently waved his hand. “What made you think there is ‘ _me and James_ ’?”

“Uh. You two are like, a thing? You live together!”

“We’re roommates!” David nearly shouted but remembered at the last moment to keep his voice down. “We’ve known each other from the gym and he told me about the opening position here and offered to split the rent.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.”

“Obviously,” David huffed. “Christ, we’re not together, where did you get that? He’s not even… ah, never mind.”

There was a brief silence between them.

David’s mind reeled. At last, Silva’s awkward behaviour around _him and James_ made a lot more sense. It wasn’t that Silva was actively avoiding his company, it was that they made him feel like a third wheel.

“How was I supposed to know?” Silva hissed. “You’re always all over each other.”

“Because that’s just how James is. Even the kids know that! He’s always slapping their backs and high-fiving them.”

Silva shrugged, “Opposites attract.”

“Are you saying I’m not affectionate enough?”

Shifting uncomfortably, Silva hurried to clarify, “I’m not saying that.”

More silence.

David cleared his throat. “So, how’s the music club going?”

Silva grimaced. “Not good. We’re still looking for someone who could guide the kids. And so far we have like, five regular members, I think. More kids said they’d sign up but no one is showing up for the meetings. It’s true that we aren’t practising anything yet but… yeah. Not good.”

“When is the next meeting of that glee club of yours?”

Silva’s eyes widened. “On Thursday. Every Thursday, from five to half past six.”

“In the main auditorium?”

Silva nodded.

David smiled. “I’ll see you there.” 

“Are you–” Silva didn’t get to finish his question.

“Jo said yusssss,” James declared, opening the door and dancing into the office.

“I told you she would,” David grinned.

“Oh. Good. Yeah. Good. I’m going to go now,” Silva babbled. “Good for you James. I’m really glad it worked out, you wouldn’t even believe. Really glad!”

Silva rushed out of the room, forgetting to collect his books.

“Sooo,” James drawled, flopping down on his chair and spinning around. “How did _you_ do?”

“I’m joining the music club.”

James stopped spinning and glanced up at David. “For real?”

“Yeah,” David said proudly. “Had to keep my end of the bargain, right?”

James let out a long, pained whine and facepalmed. “Well, it’s a start,” he said, exasperated.


End file.
